Global Ganja Report

Medical marijuana patient advocates and other stakeholders staged a protest Oct. 14 as criminal proceedings began at the Terraine Courthouse in San Jose, Calif. The protest came in response to aggressive enforcement actions over the past two weeks by several police departments and the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. The sweep, which resulted in the arrest of nearly two dozen medical marijuana patients and providers in Santa Clara County on Oct. 1 and 7, was dubbed Operation "Up in Smoke."

In San Jose's first public discussion on crafting an ordinance regulating medical cannabis dispensaries, ideas were shot down and applauded at an emotionally charged City Hall meeting June 7. Parents and teachers expressed fears about the proximity of the dispensaries to schools, while patients and operators dismissed the city's proposals as too restrictive.

One day after robbers struck the South Bay Cannamed Patient Association in San Jose, Calif., on May 20, holding employees and customers at gunpoint, the local Medical Cannabis Collectives Coalition called on the City Council to act swiftly in drafting a medical marijuana ordinance. Stephen De Angelo, executive director of Harborside Health Center in San Jose and a spokesman for the coalition, said that in a legally regulated environment, collectives would be required to take basic security measures.

A judge on May 7 ruled that officials in San Jose, Calif., may continue to threaten landlords of medical marijuana cooperatives with fines of up to $2,500 a day—a practice that has resulted in the eviction of at least one cannabis club. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy ruled against the medical marijuana collectives, citing a lack of evidence to issue a ban on city officials from sending the letters. However, he did not throw out the case entirely. Murphy will listen to arguments from both sides at a hearing June 25.